Keeping an eye on Communist, Totalitarian China, and its influence both globally, and we as Canadians. I have come to the opinion that we are rarely privy to truth regarding the real goal, the agenda of Red China, and it's implications for Canada [and North America as a whole]. No more can we rely on our media as more and more information on China is actively being swept under the carpet - not for consumption.

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Is Richmond BC, Canada,Getting Serious Yet

Only a few years ago former Richmond city bylaw manager Wayne Mercer said every month he would tell yet another "anxious and insecure" Richmond resident that the city intended to do "nothing" about Chinese-only and Chinese-dominant signs.

After years of dismissing residents’ worries about the expansion of Chinese-language signs in Richmond, the city is hiring a new staff person to press for more signs to include English.

Richmond last week quietly posted a full-time job for a sign inspector. The inspector’s duties will include educating business owners about the city’s policy, which says signs should contain 50 per cent English lettering.

“I think the issue is being taken more seriously than it once was,” Coun. Alexa Loo said this week.

Loo, who was elected to council in the fall of 2014, previously said it was “ridiculous” that Chinese-only signs were on the rise in Richmond, despite ethnic Chinese now making up one out of two residents.

Richmond’s council, Loo said, is slowly becoming convinced community“harmony” is threatened by a proliferation of signs that cannot be read by those who do not read Chinese.

The city’s decision to hire someone to educate businesses about English on signs is a significant change.

Alexa Loo, who was elected in 2014, previously said it was “ridiculous” that Chinese-only signs were on the rise in Richmond, even though half the population is ethnic Chinese.

Only a few years ago former Richmond city bylaw manager Wayne Mercer said every month he would tell yet another “anxious and insecure” Richmond resident that the city intended to do “nothing” about Chinese-only and Chinese-dominant signs.

Joe Greenholtz, a member of Richmond’s intercultural advisory committee, also brushed aside the concerns of people who felt alienated by Chinese-only signs.

Halsey-Brandt urged the new council to find a way to ensure a large portion of the 200,000 residents of Richmond don’t end up “feeling that they don’t belong in their own city.”

Between 1981 and 2011, Statistics Canada figures show the ethnic Chinese population of Richmond expanded by 80,000. In the same period, the white population had a net loss of 28,000 people. (See interactive chart below)

In response to increasing debate, a group of prominent Metro Vancouver Chinese business leaders gathered in Richmond in May and urged all immigrants to “follow Canadian customs” and include English in their signs.

For his part, Richmond Coun. Chak Au says he has been waiting for years for other council members to come around to his viewpoint.

“I was the only one four years ago who was saying we should go to bilingual signs,” Au said.

“In the beginning, the others didn’t want to do anything.”

“I was the only one four years ago who was saying we should go to bilingual signs,” Counc. Chak Au said. “In the beginning, the others didn’t want to do anything.”

Many Richmond residents remain disappointed the city’s new inspector is being asked only to “encourage” business owners to make signs 50 per cent English.

Without enforceable municipal and provincial legislation, Starchuk believes, almost nothing will change in regards to the proliferation of Chinese-only or Chinese-dominant signs, as well as Chinese publications and Translink ads.

For their part, Au and Loo want to avoid formal sign bylaws. They believe it’s more “harmonious” to have a staff member try to persuade businesses to include English, to improve cross-cultural communication.

Au and Loo also worry Richmond could open itself up to a charter challenge if it requires English.

Even though the province of Quebec has laws preserving the French language in signs, Loo said Quebec has more constitutional authority than B.C. The executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, which has threatened to take Richmond to court over the sign issue, told The Vancouver Sun in July that individual rights trump community concerns.

Some BCCLA board members, however, have since questioned Josh Paterson’s position.

In addition to hiring a new sign inspector, Richmond council has asked staff to put together a new bylaw that will ban “clutter,” examining signs from all the city’s retail outlets and restaurants.

“In some ways that’s the dominant issue,” Loo said.

Most of the city’s Chinese-only signs, especially in real estate, are temporary, electronic or sandwich boards.

Richmond council hopes its anti-clutter bylaw, which should be ready in 2016, will ensure “you can’t just leave your whole front window blocked up with signs,” Loo said.

About Me

I can be found exploring dried up river beds. I carve stone found on those hikes. Yes, I collect rocks!The hiking here is perhaps the best I've come across. Like cooking, photography and visits to artistic and local events. We love to travel; places we have been to include London [UK], Mallorca, Acapulco, Playa Del Carmen, Athens, Mykonos, Santorini, Maui, LA, San Diego, Puerto Escondido, Edinburgh, Isle of Man, Isle Of Skye, Kirkwall/The Orkneys and Honolulu.